DMC: An Alternate Beginning
by malicious pixie
Summary: Different take on the first game.
1. Prologue

Random idea. Missed writing about the Sparda boys. So here's s different take on the first game.

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DMC: An Alternate Beginning

Prologue

"Devil May Cry…No. We closed at nine." Vergil dropped the receiver back into the cradle with a sneer and returned to doing the menial task of shuffling papers into neat stacks; busy work to keep his mind off of the fact that he and his brother had not had a profitable job in ages. It was also something to distract him from thinking about how his brother was most likely off somewhere, squandering their meager savings on pizza and 'entertainment' magazines.

So when Vergil heard the revving of a motorcycle engine, it made him groan, thinking that it meant Dante was returning home from wherever with his wallet considerably lighter. But the sound of the motorcycle quickly turned into a deafening roar and suddenly a woman on a bike busted through the front doors of Devil May Cry. The rider leapt off and landed neatly in front of Vergil's desk, letting the vehicle continue on and swerve into a pool table, bringing the motorcycle to a halt.

Vergil merely raised an eyebrow at the intruder and set his papers down.

"Only one partner here. Is that right?" the female rider asked.

Vergil curled his lip, deciding that she had to be here for his twin brother. "The idiot is out. How much does he owe you?"

"Excuse me?"

"I had assumed that prostitutes asked for payment up front, but how much does my brother owe you?"

The leather-clad woman frowned. "I'm not a prostitute."

"In that case. I'll be charging extra for the cost of the doors." Vergil got up and walked around to the front of his desk, leaning on it with his arms cross, one hand gripping his sword and sheath which he'd taken from the desk. "What do you want?"

"Where is your brother?"

"You have a message for him? Leave it with me. I'll mention you're dressed in leather and have large breasts. I'm sure he'll get back to you promptly."  
The blond woman gave a strained smile. "Are you always this polite to potential clients?"

"Just the ones who crash into my office and break my property," Vergil answered off-handedly. "So I'll ask you again. What do you want?"

The woman tilted her sunglasses down and watched the elder twin closely. "I have a 'special' job. Obviously."

Vergil's eyes widened minutely before they narrowed dangerously, immediately suspicious of the 'potential client' because of her all-too-familiar gaze. "Who are you?" he half growled and the blonde huffed softly in amusement.

"So you _can_ be more hostile," she said, pushing her glasses back up. "The name's Trish."

Vergil watched the movement of her hand as she dropped it back to her side, and then snapped his icy stare back to her. In a flash he had his sword unsheathed and pointed menacingly it at her neck. "Did I ask for your name? I asked who you were. Who sent you?"

"Whoa-ho. Looks like you took a wrong turn, Babe. _Nature Calls_ is in the back." Dante said, smiling non-chalantly as he ambled inside and walked over to the wall, taking down his sword and swinging it casually. "Underworld's sure makin' 'em hotter, huh Verg?" he glanced approvingly at their guest before he suddenly frowned. "Too bad you're one of _them_."

Trish smiled. "I see you're as welcoming as your brother."

The devil-hunter dressed in red shrugged. "You're kind don't wander in her unless they got a death wish, Babe. Besides. You broke my table. I'm bound to take it personally."

"You boys are quick to hold grudges, aren't you? But that isn't surprising, given that you're the sons of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda; the half-breeds who lost a mother to evil twenty years ago. The loss has made you untrusting and bitter, I see."

"As you said, it isn't surprising," Vergil replied. "State your business or say good-bye." He pressed his blade into the woman's neck, drawing a short trickle of blood. Trish reached up and held his blade, sending volts of electricity through it and into the devil hunter's body. Vergil hissed in pain and stumbled back into his desk.

Dante came to his brother's rescue and swung his sword at the strange woman, but was clipped under the chin by a stiletto boot from a high kick. His sword was then wrenched from his hand and thrust through his chest. He cried out and fell back over the rubble that had formerly been his pool table.

Trish threw off her sunglasses and laughed. "Are you really the sons of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda? How do you expect to avenge your family when you can't even use a swo—"

The woman gasped and ducked as she was fired upon simultaneously from two directions, both twins righting themselves at the same time, eyes narrowed and fingers rapidly pressing the triggers of their guns. One held Ebony. The other held Ivory. They stopped firing as one and Dante yanked the sword out of his chest and stabbed it into the ground.

"Way we see it," he said, "You're the first devil to mention our vengeance mission, so it looks like we're finally getting warmer. You picked the wrong door to come crashing through, Babe."

"I don't think so," Trish shook her head and stared at the younger twin. Vergil heard his brother gasp softly and understood that he'd noticed the resemblance of the woman to their mother as well. "I'm a friend," the blond went on. "I've come seeking your help to put an end to the Underworld. Mundus will rise again. He plans to open the gateway on Mallet Island."

"Mundus..." Vergil repeated to himself, staring darkly into space before his eyes drifted over to the picture of his mother, lying on the agency's floor, Trish's glasses sitting on top of it.

"Well." Dante said loudly, taking his finger off the hammer of his gun. "Looks like we're goin' on vacation."


	2. Chapter 1

DMC: An Alternate Beginning

Chapter 1: Welcome to Mallet Island

Dante whistled in mock wonder as he stood on the rocks with his brother and the demon woman who had led them to Mallet Island. The place was pretty well what he had been expecting; a giant rock protruding from the ocean, no signs of life, and a remote location. Dante figured that it had to be prime real estate for any devil trying to make a place for himself in the world, especially since this particular rock supposedly housed the gateway to the Underworld. Dante had to hand it to Mundus, the demon had as much taste as he figured any dark lord of evil would have. Nothing about the place said 'foreboding' at all…nothing.

"So I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sure glad we came here on the off-season," Dante offered casually, wanting to break the long silence he had had to suffer through the entire trip to the island.

Vergil glanced over at him and scowled. "What are you talking about?"

"This right here," Dante answered, gesturing around, "Prime vacation destination. You know, rocky shores, crushing waves, cloudy skies, dormant evil just waiting to destroy us all? And I'm sure there's a haunted gothic castle somewhere too. We sure hit the jackpot this time, Verg. Glad we got here before the crowds caught wind. I hear hotbeds of evil are getting real popular these days."

Vergil could not have looked more unimpressed if he had tried. "Who let's you live?" he growled softly as he walked away from his brother to join Trish in front of a sealed gate. Dante grunted and stepped up beside them, looking over the doors before giving them an experimental shove. They didn't budge.

"Ooo…kay…It's okay. I know how this works." Dante cleared his throat and pronounced the words, 'Open Sesame' in a dramatic voice as he stood before the closed gates. When nothing happened, he played off his disappointment with a shrug. "Well it was worth a shot," he mumbled, and then caught the look his brother was giving him and he turned a little defensive. "What?" he said, "You can't honestly tell me that you've never wanted to say that."  
Vergil's lip curled at the idea. "I can. And I am," he answered, turning his attention back to the doors. When a sword suddenly appeared and opened the gate, he hid his surprise by forcing his mouth into a thin, angry line.

Dante grinned, silently taking credit for clearing the way.

"Welcome to Jurassic Park…" he muttered and followed Trish and his brother through the opening, which led to a rocky path that skimmed the edge of the cliff and wound its way up. Undoubtedly their mission would begin at the top. And although Dante couldn't speak for his brother, he didn't think it was a far stretch to say that he wasn't the only one who was just itching for some action and a chance to test out his abilities on the biggest bad to ever roam the Underworld. There was no way in Hades that he or his brother would ever pass up the opportunity to slay in their father's legendary footsteps.

"So? Onward and upward?" Dante asked.

The blond woman nodded once and pointed up ahead. "The castle is above this cliff," she said. "Follow me."

Dante watched her leap to the top of the rock face and grunted. "Well that's one way of getting up there." He eyed the path ahead of him before turning to his brother, "Looks like I was right about the castle."

"Congratulations," Vergil said gruffly, brushing past him as he headed up the rocky way to meet up with Trish. Dante shook his head and followed, frowning at the back of his brother's head. He knew he should have been used to Vergil's attitude by now, but he still couldn't help being irritated by it sometimes. There was a big difference between being humourless and a complete asshole and Dante couldn't figure out why his brother always chose to be that latter.

At the top of the cliff, the twins paused to look around, but they were more taken by the fact that their guide was no where in sight, than by the fact that there was a giant castle looming ahead of them. Dante was the first to comment, as usual. "Looks like the tour's over before it even began," he noted. "You think she's waiting inside?"

"I think it doesn't make any difference." Vergil walked towards the entrance. "Let's go."

Once again Dante found himself bringing up the rear, and as he stepped over the castle's threshold into its dark foyer he felt a chill run up his spine. He turned just into time to see the doorway seal up behind him, leaving them no chance to turn back. What made matters even more interesting was the fact that Trish was not waiting for them. Apparently they wouldn't be getting any hints or pointers from the demoness.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Master," Dante whispered, walking to the center of the foyer where there was a large statue in front of a grand staircase.

Vergil groaned as he walked around, exploring. "One more movie reference and I swear I will kill you, Brother."

"Fine. Fine. Relax." Dante pulled out his handgun and pointed it at the statue as he pushed on it, a precaution in case it sprang to life and attacked. But unlike with the gates, nothing happened, even after a few minutes, so he moved on and headed up the stairs. Once he had swept the area and found nothing of real interest, he joined his brother at the bottom again. "Penny for your thoughts, Bro."

Vergil rolled his eyes. "You don't have that kind of money." He walked towards a set of large double doors and Dante grabbed his arm angrily.

"Hi. Have we met before?" he said, glaring, "I'm Dante? You're brother? Just thought I'd remind you so you could maybe tone down the hostility a bit. We're on the same side. Be nice if you could share your thoughts a bit. We're not exactly exterminating ants here."

Vergil jerked his arm away and met his glare. "If I had something to share, I would. Unlike you, I am capable of shutting up. Now unless you have some constructive commentary to give, keep it sealed. You're giving me a headache."

Dante continued to glare, but otherwise took his twin's advice. He put his gun away and followed Vergil to the double doors, taking one set as his brother tried to open the other ones. Unsurprisingly, Dante had been the unlucky one and his doors were locked. He resisted the urge to say 'Open Sesame' again, aware that his brother wouldn't deem it 'constructive commentary'. He looked over as he heard the click of Vergil's doors opening and caught his triumphant look before he walked through them. Dante rolled his eyes and followed. Somehow it didn't surprise him that his brother hadn't waited so they could enter together.

In the next room, Dante caught up with his brother and walked beside him to the back, passing through an opening and continuing on along what seemed to be a designated path. They arrived in a room with a strange puppet asleep on the job. Dante wanted to go over and investigate but his brother grabbed his wrist and pointed to the ceiling, indicating an opening.

"Go. Check it out," he told him, moving to stand between him and the puppet. Dante had a sneaking suspicion that his brother felt he would cause some sort of trouble by approaching the inanimate plaything, which annoyed him, but he decided not to argue the point. So with a salute, he accepted the mission and hopped up onto some debris and climbed through the hole in the ceiling.

The chamber above was nothing to write home about, except that it held another of the puppets, this one having something that caught Dante's eye. As he approached the marionette cautiously, he noticed that the object was in fact a key, and if he was lucky, it would be the key to the doors he couldn't open earlier. He quickly grabbed it, glad to have something to gloat about to his brother—Vergil wasn't the only one who could open a door—and turned back to leap through the hole. It was then that he felt something move swiftly by his head and embed itself in the wall. It was a blade. And even before he'd glanced behind him, he knew that his pal the marionette was awake and ready to play. As he spun round to blast him away with his gun, he heard the clunk of wood land behind him and knew at once that the red marionette had brought a friend.

It didn't take long for Dante to destroy the two puppet demons and once he was sure no more would follow, he left the chamber and landed on the ground just in time to have his coat slashed by a green marionette who had decided to play with his brother. He shot that one until it was destroyed and then went about helping Vergil fend off the larger group of marionettes that had swarmed him. With their combined forces, it took very little time for all the marionettes to be sent back to hell and once they were gone, Dante swung his sword onto his back and dusted his hands off, grinning.

"Playthings have sure as hell gotten a lot meaner since we were kids, huh Verg."

His twin glared, sheathing his own sword. "What the hell did you touch?"

"Nothing," he answered quickly, and then paused, remembering about the object he'd taken. He smiled innocently. "Well there was a key. The puppet had a key."

Vergil shook his head. "You are such an idiot."

"Fuck you. The doors back there needed a key so I took it. Lay off—Hey! Where are you going?" Dante frowned and hurried after his brother as he walked away. Vergil stuck out his arm and blocked the doorway so Dante couldn't pass beside him.

"We're splitting up," he said.

"What?" Dante blinked. "Because I took a fucking rusty key from a demented puppet? Look, if I thought it would have made it happy, I'd have given it back."

Vergil sighed in exasperation. "We're splitting up because this castle is large and we don't know how much time we have before Mundus opens the gate. We can cover more ground this way."

"And die faster. That's a good plan, Verg. You saw how those things kept coming. And you just know there's worse devils out there. We should stay together."

"If you don't think you can handle it, then go back to the foyer and wait there, twiddling your thumbs. I will do this on my own."

"You're missing the whole point of a partnership."

"And you're missing the whole point of what I'm saying. We're splitting up. End of discussion."

Dante opened his mouth to argue, but then shut it, knowing how stubborn his brother could be. He wouldn't give in. "This is a mistake," he finally said, "but if you want to go it alone, then fine. Just do me a favour and scream once you figure out that you're being an idiot, and I'll come running."

Vergil snorted and dropped his arm. "Don't die."

Dante didn't think that he cared, but nodded. "Likewise, and good lu—"

"Don't say it," Vergil interrupted him. "I won't need it." And with those parting words, Vergil was gone and Dante was on his own. He pulled the rusted key out of his jacket and tossed it up, catching it in mid-air.

"Let's go see what devils are behind door number 2…"


End file.
